MUMBAI: Publicis Groupe’s Executive President & CFO, South Asia, Pankaj Vasani, has been awarded “CA CFO of the Year in the Media & Entertainment Sector” by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) at the 12th ICAI’s Leaders & Business Excellence Awards held in Mumbai on 19 January.
Pankaj received his award from Shri. Vijay Goel, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for parliamentary Affairs, CA. Naveen Gupta - President ICAI, CA, Dhiraj K. Khandelwal - Chairman Committee for Members in Industry & Business, and other key officer bearers of ICAI.
The awards instituted by ICAI acknowledges the Chartered Accountants (CAs) in the industry who have demonstrated excellence in the way they conduct their profession, are exemplary role models in the industry, have created value to their company's stakeholders on a sustainable basis and are outstanding contributors to the society.
On receiving the award, Pankaj said, “I'm truly and honestly thrilled to be here today, and sincerely grateful to the entire jury for the unique distinction. I might have done well at my job, but this recognition accorded by the Institute, which I greatly appreciate and accept with all humility and deep gratitude, comes in consequence of a lot of other people's work. I, therefore, accept this award on behalf of my family and friends for always being there and encouraging me, my mentors for believing in me and all my colleagues who I’ve worked in the past and work with at the Publicis Groupe, who made this moment, happen. This award is a compliment, an inspiration and cognisance that I'm on my journey to become a better professional, and a person of greater social significance.”
The prestigious ICAI awards are given in various categories (i) CA Business Achiever (Chairman/CEO) (ii) CA Chief Financial Officer and (iii) CA Professional Achiever. The top five nominations in each category are short listed by the Nomination Committee, which then sends it to the Jury for final selection. The Jury consisting of eminent personalities from the Indian Industry, leading businessmen, representative of national trade bodies, regulators, academicians, heads of universities, past presidents of ICAI and other well-known personalities, then decides on the final winner of the awards. This year’s distinguished Jury was chaired by Shri Keki Mistry, Vice Chairman and CEO, HDFC.
The winners were chosen from various industries such as manufacturing sector, financial sector, services sector, information technology, media and entertainment sector, telecom sector, healthcare sector, public sector, infrastructure and construction.
